Deck Light Working

19 August 2012

I stayed on the boat for most of the day, finding little things to do. 

As soon as I got up I checked the battery voltage and it was at a satisfactory 12.4V, the result of my having run the engine for a total of 3 hours the previous day.  I then ran it for 2 hours at 1000 rpm while I had a slow breakfast and did some reading.  The battery fault alarm did not go off at 1000 rpm as it has been, no doubt because the battery bank was at a higher voltage.  From now on I will keep the batteries well charged no matter how much I have to run the engine, in order to reduce stress on the batteries (which hate being drained).

It was another tranquil and sunny day at the marina and given that I had plenty of time on my hands I decided to look into the problem with the deck light, which had not been working for months.  I climbed up the mast to the light, removed the bulb, then brought it down and cleaned the metal base with sand paper then tested it with the multimeter and found it to be OK.  I went back up to probe the socket and got no reading, but the socket was so small that I couldn't be sure of my finding.  Before putting the cleaned bulb back in I climbed back down to check the switch and fuse, and I'm so glad that I did, because the 15A fuse had blown.  I didn't know why I had put a 15A fuse to service only two mast lights so I replaced it with a 10A fuse which promptly blew when I replaced the bulb and  switched on the light.  I put an a fresh 15A fuse and that held up OK and the deck light came on.

Back up the mast I went to bring down the bulb so that I could find a matching spare that I could take to the US sin order to purchase a half dozen more.  I found one, went back up the mast, fitted it, it lit up, and within seconds was too hot to touch.  Someone described incandescent bulbs as heaters that happen to put out light, and I certainly hate to see so much energy being wasted as heat.  Unfortunately I an stuck with that system until I can fit more modern LED deck and steaming lights.

At 3 PM the cabin temperature was 30C (86F) and I figured that the Angra area would be getting pretty hot in the summer months (Dec-Feb in the southern hemisphere), so it was just as well that I would be clearing out in early December. 

I have one week left at Bracui before flying north to the U.S.A. and I must say that I am ready.  I've done everything that I wanted to do with the boat, have gotten a good overview of the area, and am rested up.  I ran into Henrique yesterday and he told me that he will be having Pachuca's hull cleaned next week, which will  be just in time, otherwise I would have postponed the project.  I may visit Angra during the week to visit the HSBC ATM because I like to carry plenty of cash when I travel.
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20 August

I have just paid for another month's stay at the marina, which will carry me to 30  November.

The cost for the month was $R992.47, which is only $470 Aussie dollars and $490 USD.

So the target date for my departure from the Bracui marina is 30 November.